THE SPICE OF SALT
by luckythelab
Summary: Roadtrip! Takes off from where Carol doesn't go to Denver... Things get weird. Including all great characters along the way. ABBY & Co . f/f . PLEASE FAV AND REVIEW!
1. The price of ham

**an! Hi Gals my first FIC! rated T for language ;;))) hope ya like!**

Carol skid to a halt abruptly on the highway and manoeuvred into an inconspicuous hedgerow at an alarming speed

'Carol WHAT ARE you doing?!' Therese shouted

'We cant go to Denver' Carol dramatically swished her hair.

Therese , now cradling her neck looked completely stunned as the car was now billowing out steam and the other cars on the road sped past them.

..why not? Therese almost whispered

Carol coughed up the cigarette she almost swallowed in the intentional crash. Steam rose out through her nose.

'Therese , what a strange girl you are…

I am obviously stopping to throw off our DETECTI-v-e…' , Carol elongated the last word so it last almost 5 seconds.

Therese did not understand.

She gingerly opened the car door, and stepped out in her sensible shoed feet. She then closed the car door and peered in through the window. Therese looked mostly at her own reflection for what seemed like an eternity, then focused on carol, who , she now realised was giving her a very confused stare back for the duration that she looked in. She shook her head and turned away and then silently climbed back into the giant car.

Get out. Carol said forcefully

Therese ignored her

Get . Out. Carol strained her words this time, alsomst like she was reprimanding Rindy

But carol where will I go? What sho-

GET OUT

Carol now roared and exhaled cigarette smoke into therses face. Her eyes were wide.

Therese started to cry and exited the car and then so did carol

My dear there are no accidents. I have a plan. You take the wheel and we go to Chicago. The ride is long, but , you , with your new licence, will have the beginners luck it will take to get us there. Carol touched Therese's hand then waltzed into the passenger seat. Therese felt as if she should never wash her hand ever again, and then put one glove over said hand.

Therese grabbed the enormous wheel in her glove hand and set off. Therese thought of carol as a dragon; the endless steam exhalation, the slow-ish meandering gait, and the ~~~fiyahhhh~~~~

They both peered through their respective windows with the echoes reverberating music in the background Therese then realised she swerved into the second lane.

'that is the 54th time today…'

Carol tsked and sighed then closed her eyes , as if to blink and fell asleep. Therese noticed carol had a slice of ham in her hair, from the inadequate picnic that Abby had made for them (this was the 45th of 245 picnics that they had gone through. Each time the food was going more stale) Therese felt that abby had no idea what a normal portion was, she just blindly hacked a loaf of bread into whatever she felt like, in her drunken stupor, and then just closed her eyes and picked the first ingredient that was near her at the time to include in the sandwich.

Abby always had a smirk in her eyes as she was doing anything, but the morning before Carol and her had set off, she noticed this much more as Abby said 'hope you enjoy the rustic meal I have prepared' the two of them could not stop talking about how almost maniacal abby looked when she had talked about the 'rustic loaves' Carol laughed so much she tipped her head as far back as the headrest and almost ran over a hedgehog. Therese laughed even more and did an impression of the rustic loaf debacle, Carol stopped breathing. Then she told the story of when Abby was in cookery class at college and found mrs. Henderson's wine stash. Abby made her drink half of the bottle with her and then hide the evidence. That lesson, Abby started an oven fire and the whole school was evacuated, Carol told the story through intermittent giggles, and said that abby has never set foot in a kitchen since. Unless she was blind drunk.

Therese smiled at that memory of the already , so memorable roadtrip. Then she remembered about the slice of ham. She reached out with her gloved hand and slowly tried to multitask the driving with the intricate skill of ham-getting. She almost had it and got alarmingly close to carols eye socket, when

BAM

There was a gun at thereses face

Carol opened one eye and then returned the gun to her fur coat. I thought you were someone els- carol regained unconsciousness.

Belivet saw there was only now 200 miles to chigago, she smiled to herself and then looked as carol who was collapsed in an awkward position which made her have a triple chin.

Therese took a photo. She didn't care about road safety at this point because she wanted to be found dead with carol. Yes. She thought. That will really show Richard. Then she thought of the evidence they might find, if they ever developed the photos... Therese decided she would not show Carol that photo.

'Shall I compare thee to a mahogany chair?' Carol talked in her sleep. So therese had learned.

Aird now woke up and lazily asked therese how long she had been asleep.

'about 45 hours'

Carol looked satisfied.

Anything to report?

Belivet shook her head

Do you think our friend has caught wind of our slight detour ? carol said almost cockily

'I hope not' Therese sounded slightly worried and replied tersely. She then remembered that, during her 45 hour drive , she had not once thought to look out for their unwanted Harge chaperone.

Tell MEH what yas thiiink all youse…J

Will keep going if yas like it. GOT BIG PLANZZZ


	2. the price of walnut

The elderly blonde woman passed the cigarette that she was smoking to Therese, who took an enthusiastic puff. Carol smiled wistfully.

'I'm starving' There was a long pause. 'I wonder if Abby made us any cake…'

'I'm sure I saw some in the back seat somewhere' Therese interjected.

Carol looked Triumphant. 'That's that'. She took off her seatbelt to a very worried looking Therese and began to climb into the back seat.

Therese was a nervous driver. She had only been licensed for 3 days and she kept finding herself getting distracted at the tiny details on the road; the dead Pidgeon, the raindrops dancing across the windscreen, and right now she was dangerously concerned at what carol was doing.

'Are you still with me?' Therese shouted, as carol was now lost to the vast depths of the car's upholstery. 'mmhph….!' Carol let out a muffled noise and then there was silence. The dark haired woman thought to look back for a second, but she was all too aware of a black car dangerously close behind her to think about slowing down or even stopping. She continued on. Then, suddenly a long heeled leg kicked out from the back of the vehicle, Carol had become unstuck, but in the process her shoe was now jammed in the steering wheel. Therese let out a terrified shriek and the car veered out to the right. The car then swerved back onto the road and carol had managed to steer them with her leg back to the relative safety of the highway. Then there was a deafening crack and Therese lost the ability to hear for a moment. She now saw the steering wheel had a chunk missing from it and she finally lead the car to a skidding halt. She slowly craned her colourful-beret-wearing head around and saw Carol relaxed leisurely with a smoking gun in one hand and some walnut cake in the other, looking as smug as the Cheshire cat.

Carol exhaled smoke and raised her eyebrows 'I knew it would come in handy at some point…' She fixed her hair. 'Therese are you ok? You look like a ghost…' Therese was speechless. She wondered if carol had ever done that before. She thought about asking her, when carol started a monologue about the cake 'who would have thought! Abby, a w-a-l-n-u-t cake aficionado…' you really have to try this Therese. Therese opened her mouth to accept, when carol interrupted 'oh. You don't want any? SUCH a shame, all the more for me!' She continued breaking the cake apart and eating it with her hand.

Therese glanced at Jacopo the toy monkey who was swinging from the dashboard mirror. She thought of Abby, his original owner, and the one who suggested they take him along on the trip with them. Every time she looked at Jacopo's glazed, glassy eyes, she saw Abby. Therese wondered if Abby could communicate with him somehow and ask him in great detail what her best friends had done on their trip. Carol saw Therese and Jacopo holding silent court and decided to break the tension. 'I wonder if Jacopo is hungry' Therese let out a maniacal laugh at the absurdity of Carols latest statement and before she had time to turn around, crumbs of walnut cake rained down, just above her, onto Jacopo. He retaliated with a slight swing backwards on his rope swing, and looked on with his peering eyes. Mrs. H. Aird then laughed so much, she wound a window down in the back seat, stuck her head out of the window, and guffawed until her sides hurt. Therese felt like she was in a daze. What had just happened? She realised she hardly knew carol, and that day she visited her house and thought she could be a murderer, might not have been as crazy as she once thought.

Carol decided to light a cigarette and breathe in the air. In the corner of her eye, she saw a shiny black car that was stopped at the side of the road 1 mile away from them. Carol regained seriousness. Therese, I think its time we got back on the road. Therese obliged, and fired up the car, and with the familiar tyre screech, they were underway.

Carol climbed back into the front seat with ease now. Belivet noticed she was wearing her blue dress with her pink hat and sunglasses. 'Did you get changed?'

'Yes' carol replied with no explanation.

'Therese, I am so sorry for the way I am acting lately, all of this stuff with DAMN Harge, and Nerinda….'

'Carol, its ok. I have been having a whale of a time. I have never had this much excitement in all of my life!' Her eyes widened and began to fill with tears. Carol took both of her hands, and they stared into each other's eyes for an eternity. They heard a car beep and then two cars collided behind them, still they were just looking at each other, with no concern to the car or its current direction. Carol's focus shifted to just slight left of Therese's head. 'Therese?' she said, calmly. 'Drive'.

Ms. Belivet adjusted her special driving beret and reached in the glove-box, she retrieved the infamous gloves and put them on. Carol steadied the wheel as she adjusted them. 'I'm ready' Therese hit down on the accelerator, and then realised why carol was being so mysterious. 'Oh shit, its that fucker' Therese pursed her lips. 'I don't know if I'm ready of this carol'… 'My dear, you were born for this' Carol looked so reassuring in that moment, Therese knew she wouldn't care if they crashed to their peril. 'Hang on Jacopo' Therese smiled at his cake crumb infested body.

'I will kill Hargess if I ever see him again' carol vowed 'Drive up alongside him Therese'. Jacopo swung from his swing violently as Therese changed up a gear. Carol took off her fur coat and revealed a gun belt and holster, with 3 guns and 40 rounds of ammo in it. Carol picked the one she wanted and kissed it. Click. She took the safety catch off.

Therese approached the car.

Ooooooooooooooooooooo guys

The spice of salt really hEaTing up now?! RIGHT? REVIEW!


	3. the price of garlic

Therese wound the window down, and gestured the inspector to do the same. He did not, of course, and drove at speed ignoring them. 'This will show him' carol grumbled, as she aimed past Therese's tiny head and fired a warning shot that whistled just ahead of his windscreen. 'Take that you bastard' then she screamed. He looked irate as Therese winced and cast a death stare in his general direction. Carol gestured with her pistol for him to wind the window down. He did so.

'ARE YOU CRAZY Ma'am?! IM JUST DOING MY JOB'

Carol took a long drag of her cigarette, then exhaled it out slowly, she was about to speak, when Therese: 'Listen, yOu….' she trailed off

'Fucker!' Carol whispered encouragingly. Therese continued, now louder, increasing their speed to 100 mph.

'Listen YOU FUCKER! Stay OUT OF OUR BUSINESS OK? YOU ARE A…..'

Tears of pride now cascaded from Carol's heterophobic face 'shitty hetero bastard' she managed to whisper through her sobs. 'A SHITTY HETERO BASTARD, AND WE NEVER WANT TO SEE YOU AGAIN…' Therese exhaled and looked rather dumbfounded as now they all did in this moment, shocked at this new found aggression. Then the inspector curved his thin lips into a smile and his eyes lit up. 'If I'm a hetero, then what does that make you?' He held up the cassette tape and played back Therese's speech to them. Fumbling in his bag to the side of him, he retrieved a crucifix, and some garlic. He threw the garlic into Carol's giant car. She hissed.

He started to speed up, he was going to get away with the evidence, and their lived would be ruined…well Carol and Rindy would never see each other again she thought. Carol looked translucent and she undid her seatbelt once again, and this time started manoeuvring herself half out of her window, hanging out of the car, she started to shoot the inspectors car, he managed to swerve and dodge anything major from hitting him or the car's exterior. Therese heard carol cursing to the wind. Through all of this chaos, Therese felt still. She was amazed at her strength to stand up to the powers keeping her and carol from being together.

She thought about a world where carol would let Therese link arms with her without the consequence of her never being able to see her daughter and being treated like an outcast. With this utopian dream clouding her vision, Therese said 'hang on carol' and accelerated the car to its limit, she was now bumper to bumper with the inspector's car, and Therese noticed they were coming to a bridge. Sparks flew from the black car, and Carol climbed back in. she lighted a cigarette and complained about his shooting cans in the back yard was much easier than that. She took a moment to reload, not caring out how close the cigarette flame was to the ammunition.

Therese swerved to the side. 'Carol you have to trust me on this, you have made me realise how strong I am and I…love…..'She turned to look at carols grey eyes, when spun the wheel and slammed into the inspector's car. The black contraption veered off the road and down a very steep embankment. Therese and carol did not watch this, as they were back on the road heading to Chicago, making out and laughing. The inspector's car now rolled off the cliff and exploded at the bottom of the ravine. The smoke could be seen for miles.


	4. the price of olives

Belivet and Aird stopped at a diner. They exchanged stories of today's festivities.

A woman approached them, she had red hair, and a cat like nose. 'What can I get y'all?'

Carol ordered 5 Dry Martini's with 20 Olives. She shrugged and said that justice made her Thirsty.

Therese agreed, and ordered 3 bottles of wine 'wine makes me naughty' she said. The redhead looked positively awkward at witnessing this conversation and shuffled off to get them what they ordered. Sirens whizzed by the diner, going in the direction that they just came from. They ignored it. 'So…what is there to do in Chicago?' Therese wondered out loud. Carol wondered too, and they pondered over their map for 3 hours with drinks in hand, circling things that they wanted to do and visit upon their arrival.

They both jolted upwards when they heard a loud crash coming from the diner, it was late now, and no one was in there, apart from the waitress who was in the kitchen and Belivaird.

'Shall we go see if she is ok?' Therese asked carol. Carol communicated with a cigarette exhale upwards and a 3mm nod of her head. They walked up gingerly. They heard a faint melody, and were sure there ware sudden erratic bursts of laughter. Carol decided to lead the way, got her coat and entered the kitchen. The blue fly swatter hummed, and the beat got louder. The kitchen was empty. Carol walked into a ladle that was hanging above her head, which now rested on the floor. She let out a blood-curdling scream. *click* Light temporarily blinded her eyes. Therese lowered her camera, she could not stop laughing. Carol became light-heartedly furious with her and threatened to put her camera film in the fire. Therese tried to stop, but could not. Carol had had enough. She turned to go back to the car, then realised she had stepped on something hollow. She peeled the lino back from this area, and saw a trapdoor, the outline of which, was leaking multi-coloured flashing lights. She put her ear to the floor and heard the sweet bass notes and discordant wail of a jazz trumpet. She ushered Therese over. 'I don't know if I like the sound of this Carol'…Carol flung open the trapdoor, and the din was deafening 'Oh Therese, you love jazz'

'That wasn't what I mea-…' Carol grabbed Therese's hand and pulled her down the steps.

They inspected the underground cavern. It looked as if it used to be a cave, but now was more like a carnival. The stage had 20 musicians, all playing cohesive notes. And there were 200 people dancing on the floor. Therese wondered if the wine really had got her this time. Or if the redhead had decided to drug them both, but somehow she knew with some surety that she was not dreaming. She scanned the room and observed the hordes of people at the bar, then she saw the redhead run off her feet trying to serve the 100 screaming customers. Carol wondered if this was a private function. Either way, she was invited. Therese leaned in to her ear 'have you seen one man here yet?' then carol smiled widely and understood where they were.

Therese grew more jealous that she did not own a pair of slacks by the second and vowed to herself that that would be her first point of call when they got to Chicago. They shifted through the masses, Therese noticing evermore the sheer amount of women, and furthermore, the amount who were looking at carol. She first felt jealousy, then a hint of cockiness and gestured to one of the women to go away because she was looking too closely. Suddenly the lights dimmed and the music stopped.

All of the other women in the crowd looked up expectantly at the stage and began to cheer. One woman to the side of Therese screamed so much, she fainted and collapsed on the floor. 'I wonder what's going on...' Therese had to shout up to carol who smiled at her. 'I have a vague idea' she replied, holding much mystery in her eyes.

The drumroll began and everyone was silent, when the slow, swing style music started playing. Therese thought it sounded slightly corny. Then the spotlight beamed in onto an ornate mahogany chair, and a dark figure entered the stage. The spotlight now beamed onto the figure, the audience regained mass hysteria and Therese has the feeling she knew the woman. She had dark hair and a top hat, which cast a shadow onto her face. She was wearing a bright yellow sequined suit and a bow tie, flanked by 10 dancing women, she swaggered on, with the beat of the corny music and sat on the chair. A girl ran and handed her a microphone. How are all of you lovely ladies doing out there tonight? Said the familiar voice 'is that?"?!' Therese questioned 'yes' carol cut off her sentence and finished it, laughing. The audience was going crazy and Therese didn't quite feel safe in the crowd. The woman now threw off her hat into the audience, which was pulled apart by the mob. The face revealed, was abby Gerhard, as plain as day, with more make up on than wither of them had ever seen her in before. They both laughed and Therese took a picture. She wanted to capture this moment for the rest of time.

'Welcome TO ABBYS BAR!' she roared 'please I want you all to enjoy yourselves tonight, and don't do anything I wouldn't do!' she over acted a wink to the feral audience.

'but seriously, people, if you damage ANY, and I MEAN, A. N. Y of the furniture in here , I will FUCKING m-u-r-d-e-r- YOU' Abby looked crazy. The music cut out for a moment. Everyone stopped cheering. Abby realised and pretended she was joking, everything regained its atmosphere as it was before and carol laughed and shook her head in that 'oh abby…' way.

Abby then launched into a slow love song , with complimentary routine, flanked by her backing dancers, and every now and again, when a poignant lyric was sung, she pointed over to the bar and at the redhead, who blushed every time she did it (which was many times).

'I didn't know she could sing like that…' Therese looked slightly bemused '...I did...unfortunalely' carol replied exasperatedly and rolled her eyes. They found a quiet corner and sat in a booth with drinks from the redhead whim they found out was named Rosa. Therese was shocked and furrowed her brow 'does no one realise she is awful?' 'Apparently not…' Belivaird both looked at the ever increasing crowd who were now throwing roses and various undergarments at abby, and they began to chant her name. Carol looked alarmingly unsurprised at this.

carol blocked her ears and pretended that she was dying to make therese laugh. They were laughing so loud now, people started turning their heads and looking at them with much more hostility than before. 4 women in the booth behind them popped their heads over. The more menacing looking one of the four stubbed out her cigarette right above thereses head, and spoke to them in a thick welsh accent. 'What the fuck are you saying about her? That woman on stage is IN LOVE WITH ME, yeah ?, she is the best singer on the planet? I have travelled MILES TO SEE this woman and you are SPOOIILLING IT for EVERYONE ELSE' the women behind her all said yeah, or some reply of affirmation.

Carol and Therese looked slightly amused, knowing full well, that abby had been pointing at the redhead, although the amusement was quickly draining out of their faces.

'I know what it is girls' The welsh woman addressed her friends, theyre just jelaous of me, or what me and Miss. Gerhard have' She looked as if she was almost about to cry, and then her face became brick like in its hardness and general colour.

Carol scoffed, and laughed, the way she often did, and Therese thought this to be the wrong move at this current time.

The welsh woman began to take off her coat, and cracked her knuckles. ' Right , that it' She raised her hands into fists, and took a defensive stance. ' you against me, RIGHT NOW'.

Thereses eyes widened. The pair looked at each other, but now a circle of its own had formed around the three women. They both stubbed out their cigarettes.

Wow I love reading all of your reviews! It keeps me going! thank you all. lease review more. I have more to write about Abbys Bar, but i think it should be done in another chapter. Peace~


	5. The price of sugar

Carol and Therese huddled into their own circle, and began to talk quickly and quietly, becoming more aware of the onlookers now turning to them and joining in with the 'fight' chants that were going on.

'Therese' Carol said calmly 'it's my fault we got in this situation, and I'll be the one to get us out of it' she began taking off her massive coat. Therese laid a hand on her shoulder to stop her, 'no Carol, I am as much responsible for this as you are, and besides, we all know here, am the better fighter!' Therese reached in her bag and found her fighting beret, which she quickly equipped, and put her hood up, with the multi-coloured detail on the hood. Carol really loved that coat. She made a mental note to tell Therese about how great her outfit was later… if they got out of here alive. She tried to protest to Therese, who was already starting to shadow-box the air, and began running around the now, very established ring which was lined by spectators at all corners.

Abby must have stopped singing now she thought, as the overwhelmingly loud chanting thundered on, but every now and again, she heard a screeching high note, horrendously misplaced in the background and wished that her initial assumption was correct.

The match was about to start, and the Welsh woman was getting a pep talk from her entourage. Carol thought she should do the same. 'Therese, dear, aim for her head, I know you're quick and she is slow, so try and move around…' Carol felt helpless, and Therese sensed this. She stared at her with her honest eyes 'Carol, I spent most of my childhood in one of the toughest orphanages in America. Every day we had to fight to survive, for that last scrap of food, or to maintain my rep. don't worry. I got this' She now had boxing gloves on and squished carols face with both of her hands so Carols face looked like it was inflated 'ok Therese. Go, fight, win.'

Someone blew a whistle and the skinny welsh woman came charging towards Therese. Therese slid to the left at the last moment and the woman charged into the crowd, who booed angrily at her and pushed her back into the makeshift ring. Now she was redder than ever and came at Therese again with flailing arms, and sweat pouring off her face. Therese focused and landed a hit to the other woman's eye. The crowd cheered and Therese now remembered how she was the most respected in the orphanage. Carol watched with great disgust, but she also secretly got a bit turned on every time Therese punched the other woman.

Therese was winning 5 rounds to 1. Her opponent now had a head the size of a balloon. The whistle was blown again, and Therese knew that in the next few seconds, she and carol could get out of this godforsaken place and she could finally go and buy a pair of new slacks. She ran around the ring, tiring welsh out, and saw carol over the other side. She was in the crowd, but stood out like a beacon amongst the other dull shapes. She was so alive. As if she contained more than just her own soul. She then wondered if it could be because of the sheer amount of animals that were sacrificed in the making of her coat…as if she had somehow absorbed their power…Therese realised she had zoned out and at the same time, Welsh punched her, and split her left eyebrow, blood streamed down her face like a waterfall. She blinked, and regained focus. In her blurred vision, she saw carol was gesturing to her, it looked very important. Carol gestured at her head and then at her shoulder. She then mouthed words, frantically. Therese could not hear and carol repeated, even louder over the shrieks and commotion, ' LIKE YOUR HAT AND YOUR COAT' carol said, then her face started morphing, her mouth into an o shape, and her eyes became wide.

Therese hit the floor, and the crown of her head went numb. She blinked and saw the crowd was all gone. She saw carol shrouded in white light, and then she looked over to see the welsh woman with her crew looking smug, standing at the bar. 'Don't worry' Carol said, and marched over to them...

Therese managed to pull herself up to a seating position, and watched carol tap the woman on the shoulder, and start to argue with her. All 4 of the women now started to argue with Mrs Aird, and, then it happened. Carol pushed Therese's opponent backwards, who fell into her other friend who was standing closely behind her, she then fell into her other friend, and so on. The 4 welsh women tall landed simultaneously with a cracking sound onto an ornate looking mahogany table, that was set at the entrance of the bar (the real entrance, not the trapdoor) which had an ornate placard of 'Abby's bar' on it.

The women ended up in a heap on the floor. Bits of table leg scattered everywhere, and the metal sign dramatically bounced to the ground. The music stopped. Carol ran back to Therese 'That will have done it' she said, and began to examine Therese's head. Tsk-ing at various intervals where she winced in pain.

Abby smiled sweetly from the stage and forcibly asked the crowd 'what was that noise?' she laughed at the silence, and then asked again, this time at no polite volume 'WHAT WAS THAT NOISE'

The crowd parted around the welsh women, and abbeys face contorted upwards into a half smirk. Her eyes twitched. The crowd was still silent. She hopped down from the stage, and parted the sea of people. She then saw the destruction, and the bodies. She wiped away a tear. 'Get out of my bar' she said, not even looking to acknowledge them. 'I am so sorry Miss. Gerhard…I have come from Wales just to see you. I love you' The woman smiled and tried to scan Abby's face for any sign of absolution, anger, reciprocated love, flattery, anything. Instead, Abby knelt down and stroked the table top, she blew her nose with a sequinned hancerchief. She knelt down too, I'm so sorry about the table. I can buy you a new one to make up for it? 3 new ones even?' Abby's face rose now, her eyes boring into the woman's own with the intensity of 1000 suns. 'Do you know what THIS table meant to ME?' Do you FUCKink know?!' Abby then crouched and walked around it. She then lay on the splinters. The crowd now pretended to not notice what was going on, as this was a semi-regular occurrence at abbeys bar. The Welsh crowd swiftly left the bar, with their heads hung in shame. Abby grabbed a handful of sawdust and whispered to the grain 'this was the first table carol and I bought together' she then blew the dust onto the floor and cried some more.

Rosa now tapped Abby on the back and Abby smiled at her when she saw her face. 'Rosa...' she croaked. Rosa left her a note 'this is from them who left, they wrote it just now, I wasn't sure whether to give it to you, but…' she trailed off. Abby muttered a thanks and read the letter

Miss. A Gerhard

I am so sorry, it wasn't us who started it, it was them.

Then there was an illustration of a woman with a lot of chins and a young ish looking woman with a beret.

Abby started to ask the women around her if they had seen these women. They all pointed to one corner of the room. Carol and Therese braced themselves, as they saw Abby approaching.

'Why didn't you tell me you were visiting?' Abby said, she was much more downbeat than usual. 'Abby, you have always kept this place a secret from us' carol said with a gleam in her eye.

'Yeah that's just because I knew you would be everyone's favourite every night you came here'

Abby smiled now. Forgetting about the tragedy which had just occurred.

'Carol, I have some terrible news' Abby looked distraught again.

'About Martin'

Carol feigned shock. Therese looked confused 'who is martin?' (She set the question up, as if she did not know, and as if carol had not in fact told her, 4 minutes earlier who martin was)

Abby sighed 'Martin was…a reliable friend, a sturdy support, he was everything…

That table meant more to me than any man. And many women' she added, widening her eyes.

'Do you remember Carol? It was on that table, that we first –'she broke off

'-SIGNED THE LEASE FOR THE FURNITURE SHOP' carol smiled and directed the conversation away from where she thought Abby was taking it. Therese rolled her eyes and drank some of her drink.

Abby took a handful of sugar cubes and crammed them in her mouth 'alwayth uthed to make me feel better' she said forcing a smile. Abby wanted carol to go and reminisce about martin with her, and prepare a good funeral for him. Therese was surprised that carol was also genuinely upset about this and not just going along with it. Just before they left, Abby showed them the letter. And asked them if they knew anything about it. Abby brushed it off as the not writer wanted to pass the blame to the outsiders. Abby and Carol disappeared and Therese finished her drink.

She liked the sound of the music so decided to go and look more closely. This was music that Therese had never heard before. More discordant than jazz, more harsh and dirty. The crowd of women were all jumping up and down, not dancing and swaying as they were with Abby's music. She could see one woman with a guitar backed by a drummer and a guitarist. Therese leaned and asked a screaming woman next to her 'who is that?'

The tall girl peered down at her through clouded eyes, and screamed 'that?! That is GENEVIVE CANTRELL'

Please review because I am bored.


	6. the price of apple

1! 2! 3! 4!

The drummer clicked her sticks together and crashed furiously into the next song. Therese wade through the crowd got to where the floor met the stage. There had only just realised the song they were playing; Genevieve sang furiously and aggressively, whilst retaining a lot of style 'living for you, is easy living..' Their version of the song was completely different, it was a song therese wanted to jump to instead of a gentle sway, and the audience around her were doing just that.

Therese felt as if she were at sea, with the people jostling and occasionally elbowing her. She started to throw some shapes too and then genevive locked eyes with her own. She had the darkest eyes thought therese ...

And then the song was over. A woman next to her said 'she couldn't take her eyes off you' and looked slightly disheveled and shuffled away.

Therese wondered what carol and Abby were doing, and imagined them outside stoking the funeral pyre. She wasn't missing anything.

'This one is for all of the beautiful people out there tonight' again she stared at therese. Therese quite liked the attention. She also quite liked the band. This song was the most ferocious yet.

Therese he let herself go now, swaying wildly and getting involved in the wall of death that had opened up behind her. Before she knew it, she was sucked into the wall of screaming souls and she elbowed someone in the leg.

'I am having fun' she screamed and took a selfie.

It was nice to scream, she thought. So much crazy shit had happened in the past few days and it was nice to let it out in the relative cacophony of the mosh pit.

Therese now found herself on the stage, amongst 50 other people, including the band. She danced to the front of the stage, and saw smoke from the back of the cavern. She assumed the mourning ritual was in full swing. She hopped backwards and fell into Genevieve's guitar. She smiled at therese but it was clear she was thinking something else. Therese could not quite put her finger on it.

They played the final note and therese went to follow the crowd back to the floor. Genevive touched her elbow 'come with me, this is where the exclusive after party is happening'

Therese took a fleeting glance and she could swear that she saw Abby covered all in charcoal, crying at the smoke pile on the floor.

'...we have good champagne'

Therese did not have to be asked twice and obliged.

Therese was used to the chaos of backstage areas, but this one was surprisingly calm and nice.

She told the band members how much she liked the show and chatted about her own work as a stage designer. Therese liked it when people were genuinely interested in her.

Genevive walked over to therese a little over confidently, and poured more champagne.

'I could have sworn, you were looking right at me!' Genevive accused with a coy smile 'pushed to the front, so you could see' her smile widened and she feigned a shake of her head. Therese blushed slightly.

She realised the ever nearing proximity of Ms. Cantrell s face to her own ..'you have the darkest eyes' therese struggled to make conversation as she was stuck between a radiator and a wall and felt like she needed to escape, all the while genevive was advancing. Therese panicked '...I have a ' what was carol to her? 'I have a...Carol!'

Genevive whispered now 'I won't say another word about the other girl, if you wont'. And now she was centimetres away from her face.

Oh God .

GFDHTDCG! There was a strange wooden noise .

Therese saw Genevieve's smile fade quickly and her eyes rolled back into her skull, she crumpled to the floor in a heap.

She then saw a washed out looking carol with the reminders of a guitar in her hand. 'That's that' she exhales and smiled and dusted the sawdust from her dress.

'Thank you'

'Let's get out of here' Carol let out an exasperated sigh and put her arm around therese, who leaned on her shoulder

'What happened out there with Abby?'

'All I can say is, it involved nudity and Bulgarian funeral song. I thought it was best to leave'

The two of them left the same way they came, and hit the road. Carol was driving. Therese consolidated the day over an apple.


	7. the price of peanuts

Morning broke, and therese drove on, she now advanced into the suburbs of Chicago. Excited by this, she bibbed the horn, so carol would wake up. She did so with an aggravated snort 'WhAt?!' 'Carol, look, we made it!' Therese looked up at the high rise buildings and carol clambered to the front seat.

Carol looked through the window for many moments and instructed therese to stop the car in the middle of the road. The angry traffic around them Hooted and beeped but therese locked the car and crossed the traffic anyway, linking arms with carol.

'do you think its wise to leave the car there, carol?'

'nonsense therese, the car is safe as houses'

As they turned around to look at it, a taxi ploughed into the back of it and both cars burst into flames. Carol lighted a cigarette and shrugged in a reply to therese's horrified expression.

'We have more important matters to attend to' said Carol, in a very serious tone. She hastily lead therese through the busy street lined with people to a shop, in which the sign read ; 'o'mara's pet store' Therese's eyes lit up, and they practically ran into the door.

Inside the shop, there were all sorts of animal noises, birds cheeping, weird lizard noises, miows, and puppy yowling that sounded like tiny high pitched whistles. Therese and Carol now dispersed from one another, calling each other from over the store when they found something they liked, and held it over the shelves so either of them could see the item. Most of which was carol, holding up goldfish tanks, which solicited a disapproving shake of the head from Therese.

They both found each other again and found the Puppy section, where all different breeds of puppy were for sale, all jumping up at their gates longing for their perfect humans to come and claim them. They were both enamoured for many moments. Then they began to tick each one up and ask the other 'what about this one/what about this one?' Carol then stepped into their enclosure and the puppies descended onto her, jumping up, and reaching up to her ankle, yet ripping her stocking all the same. She seemed disinterested in the pack, and reached towards the group that were huddled into a corner, and picked up the seemingly timid Irish wolfhound puppy, that now gingerly wagged its tail and let out a little yap. She passed it to Therese who took a photo of Carol and it before she hastily discarded the camera and held the pup in fromt of her face, it tried to lick her nose. 'Carol, this is the cutest thing I ever saw and if we don't leave the store without her, then im afraid I cannot leave the store'

'in some ways she reminded me of you' carol countered. Therese turned to look at the pup, slightly bemused and perplexed at carols somwhatt aura of mystery, but as she looked more at the pup who was now writhing in her hands to be put down on the floor she laughed and knew she was selflessly in love for the second time.

Carol kept mumbling about how cute she was, playing with the other puppies and reached in her bag to get out her purse. 'oh, carol, you don't have to do that, ill pay'

'Nonsesnse Therese, this is my gift to you' therese looked slightly bashful and then accepted, putting away her own purse. 'what shall we call her, carol?' therese whispered to carol as she was paying the cashier, she merely ignored therese with a smirk and went along with the 'how to look after a dog' basics that the cashier was now reciting. Dog was now in a box, scampering around, probably very confused. Carol was carrying the box and exited the door which rang a little bell as she left. Therese was immediately behind her, and followed her on the way out.

T + C managed to roll the burnt remains of the car to a nearby hotel, and remarkably, their luggage was unharmed. They found a hotel & spent an hour playing with the wolfhound puppy. 'Just when I don't think she can get any cuter, she does something even cuter and it resets the whole cuteness scale' Therese commented about Dog. Carol wholeheartedly agreed. They had a 3 hour long discussion on what to name her. Carol liked the idea of it being a greek name, keeping with the theme that Rindy's name was Nerinda, meaning a Greek mermaid. And therese liked the thought of if having a Czech name to keep with her Belivet heritage.

They began to argue over the name. Carol in her mild frustration accidentally ate a handful of dog food, that she thought was peanuts. Therese could not help but laugh, and Carol had to step outside because of the disagreement. She slid a letter under the door

'sir/madam

Although I personally believe that the Rindy connection is better than your ideas, I am the better person in this so I will personally allow you to name the animal that I legally purchased with my own legally acquired cash.

Yours sincerely

Carol'

Therese rolled her eyes into the back of her skull when she read this, and opened the door and asked carol to name her whatever she wanted as any name would suit her and she did not mind. Carol was satisfied that it was not her final decision, and they eventually they settled for the name 'Šárka'. Therese had extensively researched Czech mythology and history , and explained the story of Šárka, the great woman warrior, who lead an army of maiden warriors, and slaughtered her sisters husband and his army, because they killed her sister. Carol found this thoroughly compelling and listened to every word. She thoroughly agreed on Sarka and set upon teaching the puppy its new name. she also felt happy seeing therese so animated about her heritage and knew that this was important to her.

Therese walked over to the mirror and left carol and sarka. She felt a sharp pain in her leg. 'ow!' she exclaimed. Carol looked concerned 'are you alright , dear?' Therese reached to her leg and noticed the blood from 3 perfect little scratch marks 'yes, I must have walked into something accidentally'

She then saw carol open the desk draw, and get the notepad out of it. She scribbled a few words and made a paper aeroplane which glided neatly over to therese

'Dearest there are no accidents'.

Therese felt her leg again and the scratches had disappeared. She then felt something on her shoulder. Therese sensed something there and turned her head sharply, yet the weight lifted as her eyes focused on the point.

'Therese, did you hear something?'

'ssh Sarka' Sarka sat, very obediently with her ears flipped over, and her head was tilted to one side

Thererse frowned 'hear wha-?'

'SSH' carol pointed a finger to the air, and stood up. Sarka and Therese looked as confused as each other now, as carol inspected the room. She dragged the big armchair from the desk, over to the wardrobe and stood up on it. She felt on top of the surface and then therese did distinctly hear a faint 'miow' this time. 'gotcha' carol persisted and struggled to grab the thing that was scampering and scratching the top of the wardrobe. She cupped her hands and stepped gracefully off the chair.

She then turned to therese and opened the palm of one hand and a little yellow kitten popped its head out of the gap. It soon struggled and found its way out of the trap and onto the bed. Sarka wagged her tail and yapped, and the new kitten pounced onto Sarka onto the floor. Therese and carol watched them interact with pure joy. Every now and again laughing at their antics.


	8. the spice of life

Therese looked up from the bed and saw the white tabby cat staring down at her from the highest wardrobe. She then saw carol with a cigarette in her hand staring up at the wardrobe with her dressing gown on. 'come on cat-no-name' carol was trying to sound animated, but she could not. Therese laughed and Carol turned and frowned flirtatiously. 'I'd like to see you try and get her down from there' Therese turned to face Sarka who was tugging at her slippers, she playfully moved her foot so the little dog growled. 'Therese we are overrun with these pests' carol exclaimed exasperatedly. 'this cat is just too stubborn'

Therese turned again to carol. 'you know, she reminds me of someone… I think I know what to name her'

Carol was bemused and raised an eyebrow.

'Carol.' Therese said.

They both erupted into laughter and carol was kinda perturbed for a moment but let it slide. She agreed thoroughly that the cat was basically her in cat form.

They had nsfw times.

While Therese was busy taking various photos of carol and the new pets, carol was snoring loudly. Because of the loudness of carols snoring. None of them heard the shuffling of furniture in the room next door to them. Sarka trotted over to the wall and sniffed the wall. She could smell something strange. Something dangerous. She let out a tiny yap, but the other 3 were sound asleep and Sarka finally gave up on her duties and nodded off herself.

Morning broke. The alarm clock sounded.

A bleary eyed Carol accidentally punched therese in the face trying to switch the alarm off. Therese finally found the clock and they overslept for an hour. The animals woke them up, both of them yapping impatiently at the door. 'Carol wants to go outside' Therese whispered. Carol opened one eye and stared at therese and then shut it again. Therese laughed in her head.

'I want to go and buy a pair of slacks today, Carol' carol was reading her map and nodded in agreement, ' I need to find someone to fix the damn car' We better get going. The pair headed out, down the grand spiral staircase and onto the city streets. Sarka followed at Carols heels and Therese knew that Cat Carol would be stalking them a few meteres away. 'Ok therese I'll meet you outside of the grey horse café in an hour, that should be long enough to run these errands I need to make' Therese nodded and went in search of the perfect pair of trousers.

She scoured the city and took a few photos. She liked the way the glass reflected the world around her, almost like a mirror, or a prism, but yet not. She thought she heard her cat miow behind her but of course as she turned around it was gone.

She went in a shop that looked like it stocked the things she wanted. Therese got lost in the maze of aisles and picked up many things to try on. She also picked up a lot of glances from various slacks-wearing women in the store.

Carol decided she would fix the car herself and also bought therese some flowers. She bought all of the stuff she needed from a shop , and put some overalls on and fixed her car. She didn't care if people looked at her weird. Harge was useless at everything so she had to learn these skills at some point, otherwise her whole house would have been a wreck.

They Both reconvened at the café. Carol hid the Wolfhound in her bag and fed it things when it popped its head up. 'rindy always wanted a dog' Carol mused. Therese's mood dropped and she looked sad 'Carol , I really believe we have beaten this man, I think you will be able to see rindy again'

Carol brightened . 'yes' 'I think youre right'.

They ate broccoli mash with a pie scone and mixed beans and Carol decided to show her the car. Therese paid the bill.

They wandered out, Chatting about what had happened that night with Genevive. Therese seemed embarrassed and carol was intrigued and slightly jealous. 'would you have kissed her if I didn't stop her'? carols question was very pointed. Therese's skin turned the same as her beret and she was about to answer, when sarka almost pulled carol over and dragged them both over to a car where she sniffed and barked. The car was mushroom red, and had significant damage, and what could only be described as scorchmarks. Therese took a photo and then realised something as she was looking down the lens. It seemed as though carol had noticed too. She paused and the blood drained from her face. 'Therese…is that…' Therese nodded

' I was thinking the same…I cant believe it'

'Yes, I thought I'd never seen a Porsche in Chicago before now'

Therese could have fallen on her face at that moment , 'no, carol…don't you remember'

'remember what dear'

'The car?...the C…A…R'

Carol was expressionless

'the inspectors car?' therese added.

Suddenly carol really stopped and whispered through a cigarette 'oh shit'

They rushed back to the hotel and silently scouted out all of the bugging devices that had been placed there 'I just don't understand…how..they' Therese placed a finger to carols lips as if to shush carol. And gestured that they went outside. They found that the hotel had a lovely rooftop terrace, it was secluded and had a great view of the city, but more importantly, no one knew they were there.

'I just don't understand…how …how did he..survive that fall?'

Therese was really distraught. It was hard enough for her to deal with the fact that she killed a man, but now she had to deal with the fact that this bitch was alive. 'Dearest, there are no accidents. Harge employed the best of the best to find us out. Evidently' she scorned.

They both took a moment to observe carol the car chase a butterfly. She waited in the bushes and stood stock still, and then pounced. Or course the butterfly bat its wings leisurely away and carol the cat consolidated her methods, she seemed sick of this game now and lay on the floor, playing dead. Carol thought only dogs did that, but evidently now. Therese leapt up from her seat 'Carol I have a plan'.


	9. the price of hatred

The burning car in the bottom of the ravine exploded. The sound echoed through the valley. A bird surveyed the scene.

No one could have survived.

Then suddenly a gloved hand emerged from the rubble.

Mr. Inspector was almost dead but he hauled himself out of the fireball car and set off walking to go and catch the illegal women.

He eventually found them in Chicago and booked the room next door. He noticed the dog which kept barking under the door, probably at him, every time he walked past the door partition. The cacophony died down and he spied through the keyhole of the adjoining door – which was locked. That the two women had left, probably to walk the dog.

He broke in and bugged the room. His meticulous skill meant that he would soon catch these lavender menaces.

Inspector fuck-o paced back to his own room and checked to see if he had set up the equipment properly. It was now just a waiting game. He placed his headphones over his ears and waited. After a few long hours he heard the door squeak open. He smiled and made sure he set the dial to record. Then he fell asleep.

Upon waking, he checked the time – 9.45am. Slightly perturbed that he overslept, he checked the film roll, which had ran out during the night but he was convinced that he had enough evidence to get the full amount promised by his contractor. Feeling satisfied he packaged up the roll of cassette and sent it to Mr. Aird. It was now midday and he decided to return back to the hotel to pack and return to his cold New York apartment.

In the lobby, he noticed that room 309 (Mrs. H Aird and her companion's room) had not been vacated. He thought this strange, as there was no sound coming from the room next door, and by his calculations, they should have moved on to the next town 5 hours ago.

Once again, he knelt down to peer into the keyhole, he saw nothing. The room was pitch black. The keyhole gave an extremely limited view, so he decided to pick the lock again and inspect the room, he also needed to retrieve his spy technology. Maybe he would find more Sapphic evidence too. How exciting

He picked the lock and slowly opened the door. He leaned over to the nearest bedside table and switched on the lamp. He was met with the most horrifying sight. Blood stained the mirror, and the carpet. A trail lead to the bathroom and the huge wardrobe was in splinters on the floor. He was nauseous and gobsmacked to say the least.

He gingerly stepped into the bathroom and saw the bloody shower curtain; and in the bath, a severed arm. He ran out and sat on the bed and found the bed was lumpy. He reached underneath the cover and found a blood soaked gun, and a note in one of the empty barrels:

'Goodbye cruel world

We release you

We will go and be gay in heaven

Go fuck yourself

Signed: Carol + Therese (4ever)'

The inspector started to cry and realised his, frankly, unforgivable, disgusting way and decided to leave his live and devote it to helping gay people less fortunate than him in Africa. He realised he had always repressed his feelings for men and was actually in love with his long time work colleague, Craig. Before he left to his new life he decided to tell Craig.

Not before taking photographs of the hotel and the crime scene. He felt so guilty at what he had put these women through. He sent a telegram to Harge, explaining the situation and that he did not want a fee for this work. He expressed his sympathy, because the world had lost two great women.


End file.
